Movie rental and video streaming service provider Netflix is surveying subscribers to determine the commercial viability of an application enabling Apple iPhone users to stream films to their smartphones. "Imagine that Netflix offers its subscribers the ability to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on their iPhone. The selection availability to instantly watch includes some new releases, lots of classics and TV episodes. There are no advertisements or trailers, and movies start in as little as 30 seconds. You can fast-forward, rewind, and pause or watch again. The movies & TV episodes you instantly watch are included in your Netflix membership for no additional fee," the survey reads. "If this functionality were available, how likely would you or someone in your household be to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on your iPhone via a Wi-Fi network?" As the survey indicates, it appears Netflix plans to limit the proposed app to local WiFi connections.
Last fall, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told [1] Reuters the company had no concrete plans to introduce an iPhone app. "It's something that's likely to come over time," Hastings said. "But nothing in the short term. [With] movie watching, we are not focused on mobile yet, but [instead] on the TV, on Blu-ray and on the video game consoles. We will get to mobile eventually, including the iPhone."
For more on Netflix's iPhone app survey:
- read this ReadWriteWeb article [2]
Related articles:
Mobile video [3] viewers looking for laughs
Long-form content upsets mobile video [4] expectations
Links:
[1] http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2009/09/21/netflix-ceo-reed-hastings-on-xbox-youtube-etc/
[2] http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/netflix_on_the_iphone_yes_please.php
[3] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/mobile-video-viewers-looking-laughs/2009-06-02
[4] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/long-form-content-upsets-mobile-video-expectations/2009-02-02?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&cmp-id=EMC-NL-FMC&dest=FMC